View from W6th

SEO consulting is NOT a game

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0000

A friend recently forwarded me a blog post about SEO consultants. It makes the premise that SEO people are evil, scammers and opportunists. In the post, the blogger claims:

Search Engine Optimization is not a legitimate form of marketing. It should not be undertaken by people with brains or souls. If someone charges you for SEO, you have been conned.

Ok - so I don't agree because if you hire a good SEO company, they can help you understand your opportunity. For example, you might have a great product and call it a kid toy. What you don't realize is that moms out there call them toddler toys. If you don't put that word in any of your content, you are NEVER going to rank well for the term, and there are going to be thousands of people who will never ever consider your product.

Another point - not all marketers grew up in the internet age. Some of them are very uncomfortable with the web. It also means they probably don't understand how a website should be coded in order for the Search engines to successfully crawl through your site. If you are not coding your site correctly, you might as well be whispering your message on the internet. It is like you have an amazing house, but there is a ton of string tied around everything so you can't see what is underneath (also know as javascript).

It is true, you don't want to game the search engines, but you do need to know the playing field. Some people don't have the time, talent or desire to do all of the research and technical lifting it takes, so they hire SEO companies.

Monday Links - On Tuesday - Scheduling

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:26:00 +0000

Sometimes it is really hard to keep track of all the things you need to do at work, at home or for organizations that you belong to. I have actually reverted to using a paper calendar, while some people use their BlackBerry, Android or iPhone.

It got me thinking, what tools are available online that can help me organize my life if I am not using MS Outlook or some enterprise level tool? Here are a few I found:

Google Calendar - kind of a no brainer, but super easy to use, especially if you have an existing Google account. I guess Google Wave will be the next contender .
Backpack - from 37 signals. It helps you corral all of the information you need including schedules, docs, discussions.
GoToMyPC - is brilliant for accessing multiple computers - like work from home and home from work. Access it from any connected web browser.
Remember The Milk - this tool has got the smart phones covered with an iPhone, Android, gmail, BlackBerry and Window Mobile app. They even have a sync up with Twitter.

I guess it doesn't matter which tools you use to help manage your life. The real challenge is using one until you find something that fits the needs of your daily life and will help you to save yourself the embarrassment of having to do Monday Links on Tuesday.

Monday Links - Arts Focused

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:32:00 +0000

There is so much focus about the online community and the different ways people can connect to each other. I had previously written about online tools for Entrepreneurs. There are so many ways to evaluate the usefulness of new website and the tool set they create.

This week, I thought I would take a look at art-focused websites and the ways they can help that community collaborate online.

Reel Clever - an online shape where filmmakers can create, managed and collaborate with other on their reel or other projects
Book Oven - the online space allows writers to make their work available for comment, collaborate with other writers or share it with their closest confidants. It also allows you to review snippets of other works so you don't have to review an entire work.
Society6 - probably the best know platform for visual artist that has a system of small grants that can be in the form of money or opportunity.
Build A Jam - this platform for musicians helps users build a fan base or help musicians living in more remote areas with less musical talent to connect to other to help create music

I am sure there are a ton more arts focused online tools and communities. Any good ones that you belong to or have seen lately?

Monday Links - Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:21:00 +0000

With the current recession, there are a lot of people dipping their toe into the entrepreneurial arena. Along with the growing number of people contemplating starting their own business is a new generation of websites that help people vet their ideas and attract funding. In addition, people are using existing tools such as LinkedIn and Facebook to make connections

The following list shows just a few of the available resources:

Kickstarter - a website that helps people fund their ideas and get feedback
Sprouter - a website that enables global collaboration between entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship = Recovery - this LinkedIn group is powered by the Kauffman Foundation and their Entrepreneurship.org initiative to inspire more entrepreneurs in the US
IdeaBlob.com - the idea with the most votes wins $10k
Bulbstorm.com - get feedback on your idea or browse other ideas

It seems that Bulbstorm has integrated with Facebook, and looks like the first one to utilized the powerful Facebook Connect API.

Getting Feedback on Concepts

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:27:00 +0000

There are information architects and designers who know their work is brilliant. While it might be true that they are brilliant (and generally ridiculously hard to work with) this group of people is missing out on great feedback that can really take a design project to the next level.

If you work at an agency or are part of a large team, you have an embedded group of people to offer an opinion. What if you are flying solo and consulting? Getting feedback is not quite as easy.

As much as I would like to believe my dad would be engaged in a women's clothing website, sometimes the people you have on hand are not a great fit for feedback.

If the 'go ask your father?' method is not working, Concept Feedback is a great online tool to check out.

You can post your concepts and let others review them. From looking at the tool, it is a pretty active community. The feedback from users is very honest.

The following is from a recent web design review:
Focus on one style of design and design with purpose. Don't just throw different elements together.I have to agree that I like the color scheme and I really like the gradient effect at the top of the design, it reminds me of the aurora borealis. The biggest problem I see is that your design doesn't seem to have very good unity.

Aside from getting reviewed, it is a great site to get some inspiration yourself. There are a lot of users doing that, and the concepts have a lot more 'views' and 'reviews' at times.

Online Video Consumption and Players

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:42:00 +0000

It goes without saying the online video is the new channel. People watch television shows on Hulu, the Tour de France on Versus and a mammoth amount of stupid human behavior on YouTube.

In recent metrics for online video consumption, Nielsen Online reports that all aspects of video streaming are seeing increased numbers. According to the Nielsen report comparing February and March 2009 figures, the number of Unique Viewers is up 1.9%, and total streams has increased by 8.7%. Viewers are also staying tuned for longer periods of time with 207 minutes in the month of April.

With all of the eyeballs on these online videos, making it a better interactive experience will help brands take it to the next level. While watching the Tour de Ireland on Versus, I noticed their video player was very cool.

After some online snooping, I figured out the player was developed by Entriq. When I found their website, I saw that they have been absorbed back into the company who originally spawned them Irdeto.

They have been sucked into the land of a company with this message on their About Page Iredto empowers companies to protect and monetize their digital assets and maximize return on content with innovative and reliable software technologies, content management and distribution solutions and end-to-end solutions and services

Should I set the alarm because that was so boring. It is unfortunate because the Entriq video player is a slick online tool. I am glad to see companies are still thinking of ways to make the online video experience better. However, I am a bit disheartened when the innovative technologies are being swept back into companies and not putting that technology front and center.

Start a Newspaper for $10

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:29:00 +0000

This year has seen the decline of the newspaper and print industry. According to the Newspaper Association of America, there was a 17% decline in advertising revenue in 2008. The shift has left people asking What will happen to newspapers?

I have wondered how the news industry was going to change to deal with the reality that was happening to them. Why does anyone need a newspaper when they can use the internet to be their own media channel.

Lance Armstrong is a great example. He decided to have a media blackout and use Twitter and his blog as his media channel.

In comes Printcasting. It is a new company out of Boulder that has created a tool that allow users to "create a local printable newspaper, magazine or newsletter that's supported with local ads. No money tools or design are required."

It uses technology to hurdle over the common issues that a journalist would have with creating their own paper. Instead of needing design skills or expensive technology, you can create a newspaper for $10.

You can even register your RSS feeds to allow others to syndicate your materials. Basically, if you are passionate about journalism, want to invest your own time, you can be a publisher.

It will be interesting to see if the concept catches on at all.

Google OS - Moving from Good To Great

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:45:00 +0000

Yesterday, Google announced it will be moving into the Operating System market with Chrome OS. It seems like a natural evolution to what has become part of their stable of online 'office' products like Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar.

Maybe the launch of Google Wave was meant to show integration among their products in this space.

However, the move gave me pause. It makes me think about the posts I wrote about Jim Collins' Good to Great. How do big companies maintain market dominance and leadership? Google is pretty good at it. Yet, one of the most important ideas in the Good to Great series is the Hedgehog concept.

The hedgehog concept challenges a company to define what it is best at doing. Not what it wants to be best at doing. It is a core focus and mission.

While reading a Media Post summary by Joe Mandese, it was right there - In it's biggest deviation yet from is core mission statement of "managing the world's information," not to mention its most direct assault on Microsoft, Google late Tuesday officially announced its entry into the computer operating system market.

Will the shift from Google being a great search engine and building better tools for searching and advertising via search prove to be a successful one? Or will the ambitious drive through the muddy OS waters cause the Chrome to rust. It will be interesting to watch.

Twimailer helps combat Twitter Spam

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:08:00 +0000

In April, I wrote a post about a Twitter application called, Twimailer. Twimailer is a service that shows you details about new followers. It includes the number people they are following and that are following them.

I thought it was a pretty convenient way I could decide if I wanted to follow someone back. What I hadn't realized at the time, is that it is a great tool to manage and block Twitter spammers.

True, if I am not following them, I won't see their posts, but I like Twitter and I want to keep the environment useful.

This morning, I had three follow request in my inbox from people whose only tweet was im into finding a nice guy , interested ? - with a link that followed.

Needless to say, I blocked those users immediately from the link provided at the bottom of the email. I also reported the users as spam - another quick link at the bottom as well.

If you are starting to get a larger amount of followers, Twimailer makes it easier to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

New Technologies to Check Out

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:03:00 +0000

It has been awhile since I have posted a series of links (what used to be called Monday links) of some new technologies for every one to check out. Here are a few I think are interesting.

Askaround.me - a service that allows you to ask questions of users who are registered in the same area as you.
Psykopaint - it allows you to quickly upload and edit a photo. It was so easy to use, I was up and running in 20 seconds.
Versionista - Ever wonder what is being updated on your competitor websites? This tool will keep track of the pages that change and what text on them changes.
MegaCarpool - a new service in India that matches up rides and riders based on location and route.

Will everyone ride the Google Wave?

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:24:00 +0000

There has been a lot of hype around the announcement of Google Wave. Rightfully so. It is the first big brand tool that addresses convergence, or web troika as I like to call it.

Wave looks to be a place where all of the current tools Google has are 'washed ashore' (forgive the pun) into one interface. According to the webite, "wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more."

It is a move in the right direction, but I haven't been that entranced - YET. These are tools that Google already has and simply unified into one interface.

I feel the same way about this as I did for Google Insights for Search. Everyone raved about it. When I checked it out, I realized it was nice of Google to aggregate all information into one place, but it was all there before. Great looking mashup.

Even the wave team "kept reiterating that the product is still basically in its infancy." That is the thing that intrigues me.

As with any Google product, Wave is where its is going to start. My real question is - where is it going to go? For now, I am going to ride the wave of hype to see where it takes me.

Is Twitter Ridiculous?

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Last week, I wrote a post about the demise of Twitter. I didn't say it was going to be this week or in the next month, but it is something to think about. It is easy to say the first to market will win, but history has told us it is easier to make it better than make it first.

I guess one of my biggest concerns is how frivilous the medium is becoming. Case in point, when a Cat can amass over 500,000 followers, it is time to say it has jumped the shark (which is now owned by TV guide - talk about jumping the shark).

This situation has opened up an important question for me - does it matter if half of a million people follow a cat on Twitter and only 57 people follow View from W6th?

Yes and no. Yes, it might make me feel that I could be more popular. No, I like having a small amount of people that I follow and that follow me. It helps to maintain the conversation around the topics that I find useful.

The great things about social networks is that it provides people with the opportunity to connect with others who have common interests - without regard to geographic boundaries. It just seems to me that since Twitter does not have any form of categorization, it has allowed for the fusion of work and play. I know, for a great deal of techies it is the same thing.

I just wonder how scalable that method becomes. You can see people try to impose order through self-generated categories on tools like Twellow. At some point, will Twitter just become background noise that we will want to turn off?

The Demise of Twitter and My Twitter Free Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:48:00 +0000

My co-worker said to me "I am getting sick of Twitter" - I understood. It felt like people were twitter crazy and the spammers has already invaded. Yes, the tool has experienced a meteoric rise. According to Google Insights (see inset chart),the term "Twitter" had gone from an index of 12 in January to 100 in April.

As incredible as this might seem, the rise of Twitter seems to have met a peak and started a decline in May.

Looking at the metric I wondered about the overall decline of Twitter. Apparently, I am not the first predicting the demise of the tool. Nielsen posted an article about the subject in late April.

The article points out that: "more than 60 percent of U.S. Twitter users fail to return the following month, or in other words, Twitter’s audience retention rate, or the percentage of a given month’s users who come back the following month, is currently about 40 percent."

Even more alarming to me is that fact that there are so many new tools being built on Twitter's API. When you see Smashing magazine post an article called "99 Essential Twitter Tools" it makes me think we are already overboard. I don't have 99 essential tools. It is too much. Even worse, what will happen to these essential tools if Twitter goes away or closes their API.

There is a definite Twitter Tribe that feels like the tool is invaluable. When I suggested a Twitter-Free Friday, this is one of the responses I got from noted Visual Thinking Expert Dave Gray "@snookerwolf ha! You might as well suggest an alcohol-free Friday. Good Luck with that! :)"

It will be interesting to watch Twitter and see if it can continue the rise. If it does, who will be knocking at their door with a bag full of cash to buy the technology.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Twitter, but you won't hear a Tweet out of me tomorrow.

Social Media Mashups

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Now that the internet age has started to crawl into the days of web troika, the idea of created a social mashup is an interesting one. There are so many tools that are centered around Twitter, it makes me a little nervous.

Don't worry about what happens when the servers fail, what happens if Twitter goes away? A lot of small ventures have been formed around the success of Twitter. As my boss likes to say, only 10% of people on the internet use it.

Why not created something in the spirit of Twitter. As my graduate poetry professor said, "Minor poets borrow. Great poets steal."

Why not take the qualities that made twitter popular - mobile accessibility and brevity - and integrate that into a product.

There are a few people out there doing that - and I don't mean direct Twitter competitors like Plurk. The one that comes to mind is ZapTag.com.

ZapTag is a place where you can vent your road rage about drivers. It has the same trappings of a social network, the brief messaging of Twitter, social media tagging and the integration of Google maps. A social media mashup.

It is not an important website, but some of the comments are hysterical. My current fav is "The red, octagon-shaped sign the person in the glowy vest was holding said STOP. If you can't wait two seconds to let a bunch of kids cross, try leaving your house earlier."

Some are interesting from a legal standpoint because they have busted people who hit and run - "Hit and run. Too bad he does not realize that I have pictures of him and his car."

Mostly, I like seeing that someone else built a functionality that applies brief messaging that was not built on the Twitter API.

Online Mood Board

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:36:00 +0000

In the design work, designers and innovative thinking have been using mood boards for decards to help develop design concepts. Agencies and companies often use them as a means to visually communicate with other team members.

Ultimately, the mood board serves as a concrete frame of reference in abstract processes such as interface design, website development, marketing communications, brand creation and fashion design.

The company Image Spark has decided to move the mood board online. It seems like a simple idea. However, in the current state of distance and electronic communication with team member and customers, it is not always possible to be in the same physical space to create a mood board.

This tool creates an online tool for an individual or a team to be able the same types of visuals of a mood board.

These visual tools can be very powerful. Just imagine that I would tell you that I wanted to explain a series of things that are blue and make me happy. That would be pretty hard to envision.

What if I showed you this instead? It would be much easier to understand what I was talking about and the imagery that I had in mind.

The Image Spark tool also allows you to share with the community, create a source for images, assign tags and keep your images private.

There are definite short comings to the tool, but overall, the concept of online mood boards is one worth exploring.

Follower Notification Details on Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:54:00 +0000

I am not talking about your Twitter Ranking and how many cool people you are follow or are following you. I am talking about knowing who is following you when you get that first follow alert email.

Twimailer has a nice service that shows you a little bit about a user when the original notification comes out. The service gives you some insight about how many people they are following, their location, their bio and few of their most recent updates.

I really like the idea that it comes to me instead clicking onto twitter to determine if they are worth a return follow.

As twitter starts to grow and the number of follow request expands with it, this service helps me triage quickly.

Monday Links

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:07:00 +0000

Just a couple of websites and services to checkout

Namechk - is your user name still available on that social networking site?
nomee - need help managing your social media madness?
scr.im - avoid spam by using an email alias online
Tabbloid - turn your RSS into a PDF magazine

Spell Checking Your Web pages with Spellr

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:10:00 +0000

There are several times when I have been reading a blog post or some copy on a website (as much as that doesn't seems like that typical thing to do) and noticed a spelling error.

I am sure with the speed at which I try to type my blog, it happens to me as well (see image on this page with spelling errors). If you diligently look through this blog, I am sure there are few.

What to do? Even more importantly is a website with a high volume of content. It is true that most modern CMS systems will have a dialog that will include spell check and show what has been spelled incorrectly.

However, what about the content comes from databases? Most database entry systems do not have spell checking. What about the smaller website that might be hand coded? Yes, they are still out there.

A great online service called Spellr.us can check your website for common spelling errors. The Basic account lets you scan up to 100 pages of your website. The tool also allows you to set intervals to check your content.

The pricing model is cheaper than hiring a proof reader. You can get a free basic account to try out the service. That account allow the user to scan 100 pages and do up to 5 scans. The account only lasts for 30 days, but you can get a Zebra account for only $24.

For $267 you can scan up to 15,000 pages and have 200 scans in 30 days. You can also set the interval at which you want to do scans - monthly, weekly, daily or even hourly.

The tool gives a nice output with the error by URL so you can go back and make correction on the page or track down the product data to help identify the source.

One you get into the page report, you can see the errors on a sliding scale of Likely, Possible and Unlikely. Even better, it will show you what it has identified as an error and link you to that part of the page.

For proper names or unusual technical terms, you can add them to a custom dictionary so they will not appear in later scans.

There is some solid functionality in this tool. I think it is great for a smaller agency who does not have the staff to employee a content person or an overburdened web staff that is trying to manage content entry.

It is even better for a time-pressed blogger who isn't so great at proof reading her own stuff.

When Blogging Becomes Local News

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:32:00 +0000

I was reading a story on Springwise about hyperlocal news from the New York Times that sounded like an interesting approach. Take writers and editors and have them cover the news about where they live. Select small enclaves where you could create enough mass to justify calling it local coverage.

When I started checking out the website, I realized it was a aggregated blog website. According to the NYTs: "The Local provides news, information, entertainment and informed conversation about the things that matter to you, your neighbors and your family, from bloggers and citizens who live, work and create in your community — as well as journalists from The New York Times."

So let me understand this approach - you add a section onto the website for bloggers and determine some central geographic points to aggregate these citizens. Throw in the respectability of the NYT reputation and the allure that actual staff writers might be posting information as well.

It will be interesting to see how this new approach to the news works, but it is nice to see a bit more of a social networking feel to the idea of news.

Google's Paid Ads in Image Search

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Google has built an empire by creating an unobtrusive ad system with an increasingly sophisticated way to target and serve the audience. It seems like such a simple idea.

As time has gone by, they have found more and more places to put ads. It is almost like Pizza Hut always inventing new places to put cheese - in the crust, between layers.

I hadn't noticed ads on the image search or the maps page before, but low and behold, I noticed them today.

Apparently, Google had rolled image search ppc ads onto their search network very quietly last November. When I searched on some key terms, there wasn't a lot of competition, except for online marketing - because those folks probably jumped on the bandwagon right away.

The real question is should you put your ads on Google Image search? Well, this tactic could provide a larger reach because a lot of people use vertical Google Image Search. The one negative aspect of this maneuver would be that only the top few ads appear on the page, so the bidding might get competitive in order to be at the top of the page.

CAN-SPAM - it is important

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:10:00 +0000

At the beginning of the year, I decided to unsubscribe from an email that I receive. It is a newsletter for an industry that I have not been focusing on, and it tends to provide relatively little insight and a lot of conference sign ups and report offers.

They have still not stopped sending me emails.

Besides my high-level of annoyance, it is illegal. It got me thinking about the details of the CAN-SPAM Act for Commercial Emailers. Although most email companies or marketers know these, I think it is good idea to do a refresher course.

Here are a couple highlights from the FTC website

No false or misleading header information - meaning your "From," "To," addresses
No deceptive subject lines - basically no bait and switch
There must be an opt-out method in the email - let the user tell you they don't want any or specific types of messages from you
You have to include the sender's physical postal address.

OK. Those were the basics rules, and you can get the details at the FTC website. However, I was looking for details on my particular issue. I opted out of the email list, but they keep sending. What was their obligation? Here is what the FTC says:

Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.

What does this mean to me? It means that I have the right file a complaint about an email spammer, and for the FTC to take action for it. The FTC had fined spammers for violations of CAN-SPAM.

Beyond the legal ramifications, what does excessive email sending mean to your deliverability rate and email reputation? In ExactTarget's Channel Preference Survey, it indicated that excessive marketing for email providers was considered SPAM by users. Personally, this email list is taking far too much time for me to unsubscribe, so I am going to flag them in my email SPAM filter. it was nice knowing you.

The Power of Visuals

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:48:00 +0000

I am currently attending the Visual Thinking Conference in San Jose. I wanted to attend the conference because it would force me to expand my skill into this area, but also because I work for an online marketing company where our ability to create visual language was really important.

It has been an amazing experience so far. Unlike other conferences I have attended, it has been a much more interactive experience and not just a bunch of people at the head of the room reading from a power point.

The first day has really got me thinking about the power of a visual, and the emotional and intellectual reaction you can have to it.

Throughout the conference a lot of participants and presenters have mentioned Ted presentations. I am huge fan of Ted and the way the presenters are so engaging and thought provoking.

Yesterday, Tom Wujec of Autodesk talked about the mechanics of Why Visualizations Work. He also share a project they did in conjunction with Ted that very nicely demonstrates the power of images. The video is incredible and worth checking out.

The Power of Screen Casts

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:33:00 +0000

I have used Jing screencasts a few times on my blog to demonstrate a point I was trying to make. I think it is a highly effective way to communicate at very little cost.

While I was doing some exploring for information about Ning, I discovered their library of screencasts. They have a large series of these video and recently did one to unveil new Ning platform enhancements. I thought it was a great way to show the users the things that will be changing on the site and explain them in a more engaging way then just some text and standard screen shows.

I guess it gets back to the kindergarten tactic of 'Show and Tell' - I guess our teachers new it was not enough to just see cool stuff, you needed to explain it and bring in a real thing to demonstrate.

What are some other great uses of screen casting that you have seen?

Getting Users to Scan Your Email

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:43:00 +0000

I have been receiving emails from SmartBrief for a couple of years. It is a great source for B2B news aggregation. In November, I signed up for their Entrepreneur email.

It wasn't until today that I noticed a very clever tactic they are using to get me to read their entire email. You can view my screencast about it.

The subject line of the email is "What's North Carolina's Secret?" It peaked my interest, so I opened the email, then I had to scroll all the way to the bottom. The subject line of the email was for a story buried at the bottom of the articles. Note the two sections of the photo highlighted by green boxes (click image for larger view).

SmartBrief had been able to get me to scroll through their emails more than one time without really thinking about it. Generally, I ended up reading other stories along the way.

It is an interesting tactic to NOT lead with your best stuff - kind of like putting milk at the back of the grocery store.

The email also did a great job by providing a mobile version of the email - great targeting because entrepreneurs are on the go and tend to read on their mobile device. On the mobile version, they put an email feedback loop at the top of the page to encourage readers contact them with issue or suggestions. Overall, the email has great content, is using some interesting tactics to get you to read more and providing the target constituent with tools - such as a mobile version - to make it more readable.

Who is Tweeting Your URL?

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Nawrocki) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Yes, twitter is often a subject of many of the posts. It just seems like there is a new tool once a week that is being launched.

The tool is also becoming the darling of marketing departments. It is true, you can use twitter to drive traffic to your site. The success of that effort can be found by digging those facts out of your analytics package. However, there are a lot of referring sites that provide one or two hits. How does that add up, and stack up against some of your competitors? Sometimes, it is hard to tell.

Twitturly is a service that tries to dig up all of the twitter references to a URL and score it.

For example, the Dahlai Lama recently opened an account on twitter. The news traveled pretty fast. On Twitturly the article about it is one of the top links on Twitter. The full tweet history of the link is available.

As a marketer, Twitturly allows you to post a link, see if there is any traction through RT (sorry - retweet) and determine the type of conversation around it. This capability also allows you to find other tweeters who are interested in the same subjects.

It seems to me that the twitter-sphere of tools keep evolving to answer the same types of things we ask in the offline world such as

How is talking about me?
What are my friends doing?
How popular am I?
How popular are my friends?

Although these tools are hugely successful, sending a foamee it still is not the same as sitting with them and having a Guinness.